January: Part 2- Overlord Gauntlet (combines Overlord and Gauntlet together, if you have either one you get it) [$4.99]- Epic Turtle Wars (combines the epic map pack with turtle wars with oblivion, if you bought either one, you get it all). [$4.99]

## Version 2.1 ##

We are hard at work on the next big update to Escalation. We expect this to show up within the next 30 days or so. Lots of little polish things, localization improvements, general clean up.

We'd like to get your feedback on other hot key layouts you might want to see.

Think of 2.1 as a general across the board polish pass so feel free to comment here on any little touches you'd like us to get in for this version.

## Scenario Editor ##

We are going to be releasing an open source scenario editor for Ashes. You should be able to make your own stuff relatively easily. This will be in preparation for the forthcoming Steamworks uploading and downloading of maps and scenarios.

## Cider Mill ##

This is more of a modding thing but a major project at Stardock is to create a series of tools that will let people more easily modify Nitrous based games. That means UI, units, etc.

One of the first tools will be called Nitrous WhipIt which will let you bring in FBX files and manipulate them so that you can create your own models.

The long-term goal is to open up Ashes so that you can create any RTS with it. Baby steps.

## Juggernauts ##

The T4s are on the way. The question is whether we release them as they get done or wait until all 6 are done. You tell us.

That's all for now.

BTW, your reviews make a big difference to the game's success. We hope you're enjoying the game and if there's anything you want, let us know.

As for the Juggernauts, I know the hardcore multiplayer guys will disagree with me, but I'd say, release them as each one is done (If it isn't too much hassle). Not only will that help balance them individually by weighting them against the default units, but it also means content comes sooner for those of us with a patience deficiency.

Also, thank you sincerely for the support you've given this game. This is easily one of the best purchases I made last year, and that all comes down to your support for the game.

Yes, great support for a great product - one of my best software purchases ever.

In the "GUI polishing" category let me recap some that I think would be simple:

• Add an "everything visible" option for skirmish maps! This would be of great tutorial value and implicitly adds a new difficulty adjustment to complement the existing choices. Major bang for the buck, especially for noobs like me.

• Make impassable terrain lines more discernable on the topo map. So, much easier to see where land units can or cannot travel.

• Assign keys for zoom-in / out by the smallest increment available.

• Assign a key to dismiss / show the Player Ranking panel in the upper right corner. Or even a settings check-box to disable it. I play SP only and find this a constant loss of usable screen space.

One gameplay comment as I think it's important and not too complex:

• Make medics in an army group station themselves in the center of it. Or at least not at the front as they currently do.

Thanks for the support, really enjoying the game particularly since the escalation version. I have spread the love and have a couple of mates who are now into this game also.

: Unit information stats

- Something for the future , can we get an up to date repository somewhere of all the unit stats in escalation , there seems to be nothing on the web besides an ashes wiki which slows learning. Simple things like medic vs caregiver , hard to tell where the pros and cons are there with no information about them that i can find.

: UI polishing would be great , some parts rough around the edges still.

- Sometimes selecting a group does not select the group , i am not sure why this occurs but it can be frustrating.

- A key to take you to a dreadnoughts that needs upgrading.

- Make the mouse cursor colour selectable , i had to mod mine to red so i could see it in very busy battles the default grey just gets washed out.

- If you add a higher tier unit to a already assigned group via right mouse button the whole group will unassign itself which is frustrating, you have to reassign the group and also re point to its location as the whole group starts heading to the higher tier unit. The expected behaviour should be at least be that the group remains , its a bit of an arguement as to if the army moves to the dread or the other way around. I would say the dread moves to the army etc but i can see this is difficult as the dread is the superior unit , it cannot teleport however so would say the dread should move to the army location.

: Stability

- Alt tabbing , in dx12 this is 100% crash every time. Its been like this for a long while please see if this can be fixed.

: Future building idea

Some sort of metal to radioactives or vice versa process with a suitable efficiency penalty, we have played a few maps now where the resources are not fair and its not reasonable to go deep within enemy territory just to get a radiocative nod etc. Last game we faced comp on normal had 4x our combined radiatoactive rate and we did all we good with equal share of the map to boost radioactives , we eventually lost due to this.

Anyway i really appreciate this game is constantly improving , keep it up !!

I think a number of players have made threads things that they hope/think should be added to the game, hopefully someone will either correlate those ideas here, or those guys will actually see this thread. But off the top of my head some things i would like are:

- Change to the score / namelist (as stated above) reduce its size as well as making it removable (its really takes up a lot of the screen just for an army strength indicator)

- Remove/select individual/specific types of units from an army

- Create air "armies"

- Better "in army" AI (like the medics and caregivers being in the wrong place most of the time)

- Application of nano transporter to army without a T3, loses the nanotransport when a T3 is added

- A hot key (like space bar) to jump to last notification

- Better/clearer ping

- Attack/Defend/Misc ping

- Clearer terrain indication on the actual game screen (like u will have a hill but u may or may not be able to cross that hill, have to refer to strat map to determine if u can cross that terrain)

- Attack ground option for arty/missiles/bombers

- Radar identification of T3 units - its a huge unit, contemporary radar tech can tell u if there's something huge or lots of little things so it makes sense that something is placed in the game so we can be alerted that its a T3 amongst the radar contacts (even if it doesnt tell u exactly where, it can just have a slightly different shade or somthing)

- Air transporters (even if they're only small)

- Fix PHC eco, allow them to either have uncapped res, or make res cap upgrades cheaper

- Better indication of units being produced for an army, better control of cancelling the production queue from the army (currently if u cancel a unit queue from the army it does nothing, have to go to the factory and cancel it)

- Treaty mode (no attacking other player within a certain time)

- Other game modes like capture the hill or instant death or regicide or something along those lines - currently only kill the enemy HQ (encourages these long turtle games) or Victory points = long games if u dont win on the quick rush

First, thanks for the continuous support and for taking in account the feedback from the players community.

- Something about the camera shortcuts : As it was said in another topic, could it be possible to rebind or change the lock/unlock camera function, which is currently bound to the Shift shortcut? Imho, it is an annoying matter of ergonomy and it currently interferes and overlaps with all the selection actions and consecutive orders, associated to the same shift shortcut. Could it be possible to regroup all the camera functions (lock/unlock, angle and rotations) on holding a single button? Keeping the middle mouse button just for the rotation and, ideally, the space keyboard shortcut for a "free mode"? Then, while holding this button we just use the mouse and WSAD in order to move and set the camera like we want. And as soon as we release it, it locks the whole thing again as it is, or better resets it to the default placement? Maybe also, even if it's not a big deal to switch from one to another, a ZSQD setting for the basic lateral and vertical camera movements for us AZERTY users?

- The way the buildings are put on the map, the "construction grid" we could say, could certainly use a pass of polish. As well as a clearer representation, at least when we place the buildings to order their construction, of their radius ranges : radar, firing range of the turrets and defensive buildings. Also, a clearer representation of the "regions", so to say the radius around a resource node : more than once i wondered if my PHC refineries were taken in account by the region where i built them for example...and only got this information confirmed a posteriori, once the construction is finished by looking the income values...

- The management and handling of meta units and groups of units have been greatly enhanced so far, but the combat gameplay and behavior of grouped units honestly needs further improvements. Please don't take that as a simple complaint but rather as an honest feedback about the gameplay. For example, the healing units are often going ahead of the group they belong to, putting uselessly themselves at risk. For example, the group movements are not only quite slow, but also confused and untidy when they engage and it is particularly difficult to obtain a nice concave effect when attacking. Where are the clear opposed lines of units representing the frontline? What about the reactivity of a whole group when we want it to focus fire at something? Another example, A meta-unit or a big group is almost unable to stay in position and fire at its maximum firing range. Often, the T1/T2 armored units are going ahead, the maverick way, when we would like them to stay in a compact first defensive line, the martial way, while, behind them, the healing, artillery and long range units do their job...sometimes we would like the grouped units to split or form a spaced formation to avoid artillery or bombing damage better...In a word, the formations behaviors are still somewhat "sloppy", lacking precision. In sins we have the "gravity well", "spaced" and "compact" formations options... Do you plan to enhance this part of the gameplay? Sorry to say that and take such a comparison, i know you don't like it too much, but Supreme commander squared formations or concave effects still bring clearer frontlines, ranges of engagement, so to say a more precise and superior combat experience. Against the AI, but also and moreover for the success of the multiplayer and competitive part of the game. We want to be in control of everything i guess, specially during the engagements. Please make squared formations, homogeneous and predictable movements with them, so the frontlines and ranges of engagement could also become clearer and the player's micro really effective.

- The planes and their behavior : Their fly-bys lack amplitude, in order to render the right way an aerial attack pass or to serve (besides Pans for example) as a zone reconnaissance around the group they belong to. They don't feel natural, at least for the units that can't "hover" in place. Their handling, the way their salvos are timed compared to their movements, are somewhat difficult to apprehend and control. Often, they don't fire at the designated target (mainly the Air and ground fighters it seems), and given the little pass loops they're doing, the gameplay with the bombers is deadly for sure, but not really precise and natural (they have a too good RoF and/or AoE damage, and the tiny loops they're doing is reinforcing this feeling). I'm pretty sure something could be done in this domain too. And in fact, we could also talk about the AA defense systems : The dedicated units are globally fine, but imho, even if the static AA turrets gained some improvements lately, notably with the upgrades, i really think there's still a problem with their attack range. it seems way too short in order to secure a strong point or a base and provide a good air interdiction over a zone. A simple or a pair of air/ground fighters can still cripple your economy at early game, and there's almost nothing you can do about it. The expenses we have to make (in terms of number of turrets, price or construction time) are not effective at all compared to ground AA units or even air fighters strategies. Mainly because of their range being too short imo. it could use a NOTABLE buff, even when turrets are not upgraded, maybe specially when those turrets are used in conjunction with radar buildings. All planes making larger loops when they make passes of attack, including concerning scuffles involving Air vs Air units, demanding a better micro from the player, in conjunction with a greater range for AA units(turrets/static defenses mainly, at least the specialized AA turrets even if it's at the cost of a little precision), could certainly improve this part of the gameplay imho.

- An observer mode could be great for those who want to study the AI gameplay and build orders, the specificities of the maps, or simply to drink their coffee while watching a match. If we want to put one AI versus one AI on a 1v1 map, in single player mode, we should be able to fill an observer slot when creating the match. Just for watching.

- Oh, and please, forget about making 2 or 3 (multiplayer sold separately soon?) different lines of commercial products with only the same game. Thanks.

Please, again, don't take that as simple complaints. I'm really looking forward to seeing this game enhanced on plenty of domains, but i also don't forget the great work done so far. Ashes is a really good game.

Escalation is great game and I like the general directions and new features you are planning to add to the game.

I do have some requests for improvement however.

1) First and foremost the biggest thing for me is that you add support for LAN play. I bought the game through GOG because I don't like DRM. I am really glad you support people like me who don't like DRM. I would love to play this game at home without any other third party apps for multiplayer. Please make this promised feature a high priority.

2) Prioritize modding support

I also really love the new T4s and the new Ascendancy Wars and I love how you are adding Linux support.

As for small improvements, I would really like the following:

1) A proper display of what is consuming your resources. Something similar to Supreme Commander Forged Alliance

2) Make the strategic view more useful by allowing us to easily find resource fields and to be able to easily tell (by having a different icon, or a highlighted icon with an outline or something) for each resource that has an extractor built on it. Same for the main building if it has a refinery or not. A summary icon would be great too to show if everything in that region (as far as resources is fully upgraded or not)

3) Make the strategic view more useful by allowing selected units to be more easily distinguishable, like with a white outline instead of them just becoming bigger

4) Make the strategic view more useful by allowing us to zoom out as far as we want and see the entire map exactly like Supreme Commander Forged Alliance. I love the strategic map and unlimited zoom in SCFA.

5) Allow zooming in really close to all units and buildings. Although this won't be used often. I like to appreciate the graphics sometimes and I find that some maps let me zoom in really close, while other do not. I think this likely is due to the zoom limit being hard coded and some maps having taller areas that when you zoom in, you are effectively going closer to your units.

6) Allow for easier dreadnought upgrading by allowing for two optional features. First add a UI that you can expand and collapse that lets you see all dreadnaughts that have upgrades, go them, or just pick the upgrade directly from this unified UI, and second add a configurable screen where you can define the upgrade path for each dreadnought type and a global enabled or disabled checkbox. Then when global upgrading is enabled, and you have an upgrade path defined for this unit, every time an upgrade is available, it will automatically pick the one you defined.

8) Make calling for reinforcements the same as building units from factories, in that they can be canceled etc.

9) Add a hotkey for repeat build (unless I missed it in the configuration)

10) make all hotkeys fully customizable

11) Prevent queuing up buildings in places that would not be possible to build due to other queued buildings

12) Add unit restrictions like in Supreme Commander Forged Alliance, so you can disable T1, T2, T3, T4 etc, disable air, naval, super weapons (when you add them) etc. I think this is really important especially as you continue adding more units. Some units might not suit some players. Having the option to limit what can be built, especially super weapons would be extremely important.

13) Add ability to set which victory conditions are possible. Eg. Allow a victory condition only by destroying the enemy and nothing else (one mode for just destroying the core building, and one for destroying all enemy units on the map). For when you add more victory conditions like the one for turtle players, have a checkbox for the types of victories that will be allowed. Eg. Annihilation Main Base, Anihilation All Enemy Units, Turinium Buildup, Turtle Victory.

I would like the T4s released as they are finished. Make your best efforts to balance them, but the balance can be fine tuned in subsequent updates. I think this is good for us, the players as we get to have fun with them and give you suggestions. If we end up revealing something significant, then you might spend less resources on upcoming T4s if it's a good suggestion for improvement that would affect other T4s as well.